You're just enjoying your beer more than what's at the store. 4.7 is 4.7, except Utah, Minnesota, and Kansas. There it's 3.2.

Well in Minnesota at least it is only 3.2 if you buy it from a grocery store or a gas station that is not a liquor store. If you buy it from the liquor store it will have the same alcohol content as anywhere else. It just means if you want beer on a Sunday with the stupid blue laws you can only get 3.2 or you have to go to a bar.

Well in Minnesota at least it is only 3.2 if you buy it from a grocery store or a gas station that is not a liquor store. If you buy it from the liquor store it will have the same alcohol content as anywhere else. It just means if you want beer on a Sunday with the stupid blue laws you can only get 3.2 or you have to go to a bar.

i heard through the grapevine that the 3.2% reading is actually 3.2% ABW, which is essentially the same as a BMC 'Light' which are around 4.0% ABV...

The only post-bottling way is by boiling off the alcohol. You'll need a precision scale and a water-bath. Weigh out 100 grams of beer, then heat at 175F for about 20 minutes. Weigh it again and return it to the water-bath. Check it every five minutes until the weight stabilizes. This will give you the ABW.

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If it was an Imperial IPA, 1.050 sounds way low. I'll bet you had inadequate mixing of your wort and top-off water, thus leading to a low reading.

Since this was an extract brew, if you give the recipe, we can figure out what your OG was. FG is FG, so if you just de-gas and warm a sample of your finished beer to 60F or there abouts, you can measure the FG.